This mirror has been dragging on for quite a while, I think I have been a little daunted by the frame, I really hate miters!
Anyway, I finally plucked up the courage to have a go and I am very happy with the way things turned out.

After mulling over the best way to cut the I decided to build a small frame to hold the moulding flat, in place and with support front and rear to minimise tear-out.

Theres nothing fancy with the jig, its just some scrap pine and mdf screwed together to support the moulding. I also glued in a small strip of pine to help support the moulding.

This basic jig turnout out to be a great help, as I also used the jig when cutting the floating tenons using a domino later on.

With the jig securely clamped to slider on my tablesaw I dialed in the 45 degrees and cut all four sides. Some cuts meant I had to flip the moulding to cut it, but the jig held it without a problem.

Once the mitres were cut I dry fitted them together using a picture frame clamp.

Next step was to fine tune the mitres using a shooting board. This was the first time I have ever taken this step, and it made a huge difference for me. The additional tweaking available makes mitering much easier.

Here I am re-using the holding jig for the joinery. I temporarily added a hold down clamp and penciled in some registration marks to keep the domino joints centered a couple of minutes later I am all set for glue up. With the frame being so small I went for the 4mm dominos.

Once the glue had dried I grained filled the frame and sanded off the excess once dry. This took a lot longer than I had expected, next time i think i’ll use scrapers to make most of the job done.

Here is a quick picture after the initial sanding.

Finally a dry fit, the original fretwork seems quite a bit darker, they have been sitting around the workshop for a while, so I am not sure if they have just darkened over time or if the veneer itself is just darker.

I’ll add a touch of color to my lacquer topcoat to help create a even tone throughout the whole mirror, although I dont mind some contrast.

Next I’ll route out the dadoes for the fretwork, glue them in and apply a finish……

I have been toying up with the idea of replacing an old chair we have in our bedroom with a piano stool. The extra width and the little storage compartment will be perfect for us.

My Mother in-law is also after something similar so if i can make it in time, I’ll try to make one as a Christmas gift as well.

I couldn’t find any suitable plans, so i went off and drew up a basic plan using sketch-up, then over the weekend I made a rough mock-up.

Didn’t get as much done as I had hoped but the temperature was pushing 36 Celsius in the workshop so I only worked in 45 minute bursts throughout the weekend.

Overall I am pretty happy with the look of the piece. I think the waist is a little too thick, the legs need more refining, and I will also add another 50mm to the width.

Otherwise the piece seems pretty good, and functional. I think I will taper the legs more to give the piece a more feminine look. I’ll try to squeeze in another prototype in during the week and start on the real work next week.

For these stools I am going to be using Melunak, for the first time. I have heard good things about this timber, but have never used it before.

The accounts I have read, describe it as being similar to blackwood in appearance but at a lower density.

I scored some cheap 65x45mm Hardwood boards, decided to glue them up and replace the solid core door benchtop I have been using for the last few years…. Once I figured out the layout, I pre-drilled my dog holes prior to the glue up. This is much easier the drilling after everything has been glued up.

Next step was to glue up the bench top in two half’s, then I ran them through through my drum-sander to flatten them. The final step was to glue up the two halfs, and a finish sand to prepare them for finishing. No fancy finishes here, its just a workbench after all, all I did was a couple of coats of linseed oil and a light wax to help stop wax from sticking during glue ups.

Overall I am very happy with the way it turned out, and at a cost of about $80 I think i did ok. Vic Ash/Tas Oak whatever you want to call it is fairly prone to chipping so I’ll round off the edges as soon as my vises are installed. One thing I have noticed already is that with the thicker benchtop the whole workbench seems more solid.

Well its a cold and wet Friday night here in Melbourne, Australia but I don’t care. Its almost the weekend and that means I have paid my dues for the week and get to retreat to my shed!

During the week I managed to pickup some goodies and will hopefully get to put some of this stuff into use this weekend.

CMT Rabbet set, CMT box joint bit

digital mitre gauge, Fastcap Calculator

Framing Clamp, Pliers

dust collector reducers and pipe clamps.

I firmly believe in working on the workshop as well as in the workshop, so I’ll continue to tweak the dust collection on my saw (keep an eye out for my roof mounted boom arm ) and hopefully find time to work on with my Jewelery box and Chippendale Mirror projects.

If you interested in more info on any of my projects checkout the Projects Section.